


To the Stars

by Meghan Page (mutter11)



Category: Amar a Muerte (TV)
Genre: Class Differences, Depression, Disasters, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Exploration of Sexualities, F/F, Guns, Minor Character Death, Minor Violence, No Major Character Death, RMS Titanic, Titanic AU, this is a titanic au after all
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-31
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2020-10-03 21:07:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,436
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20459480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mutter11/pseuds/Meghan%20Page
Summary: The year is 1912, and theRMS Titanicis set to take it's maiden voyage across the Atlantic. Valentina sails in first class, forced to travel towards America and a loveless, arranged marriage. Juliana wins a berth in steerage through an incredible stroke of luck. They should never have even met, but fate pulls them together, even as it draws theTitanictowards disaster...





	1. Maiden Voyage

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In my opinion there can never be enough Titanic AUs in the world, and Juliantina just fit so perfectly. Therefore, have this. I hope you enjoy!

The dock was packed with bodies, all jostling in their queues, voices raised in wonder at the massive ship waiting for them.

The _ RMS Titanic _ stood proudly in her moorings, dwarfing the huge crowd waiting to board. Cranes lifted crates and other cargo onto her deck, while first class passengers were escorted up the gangplanks and third class made their way through health inspection. White Star Line porters raised their voices to direct the crowd, checking luggage and welcoming passengers aboard. And through it all, no one could reign in their thrill over the phenomenon of a ship - the biggest ever built, a marvel of engineering.

The nasally toot of a car horn broke through the din of the crowd, warning people to move aside for the trio of cars trundling down the dock. As they rolled to a stop alongside the ship, the driver of the lead vehicle jumped from his seat and hurried around to the side, opening the door and holding out a hand for the passenger.

She took it and stepped gracefully out of the car, onto the wood of the dock. Tilting back her wide brimmed hat, Valentina took her first look at the ship that was to carry her away.

Before this moment, everything had seemed like a far-off idea, just talk and planning. With her father’s death had come the revelation of his debt, and the family fortune had been whittled away. Her sister Eva had decided there was only one thing to do to secure their futures: have Valentina marry, and marry well.

So Valentina had found herself with a ring on her finger. Her grief for her father had lingered, and she felt bitter that she wasn’t given her time to mourn, Eva pushing her to get over it and go socializing as soon as possible. Even so, it had been easier to just play her part, winning over a respectable man and letting her sister handle all the arrangements.

It didn’t matter that she didn’t truly care for Lucho, that sometimes she could barely stand his presence. She was almost as good at ignoring her own wishes as he was. He was a gentleman of high standing, someone who could secure her and her sister’s futures.

So she had done what she had to, and accepted his proposal. She knew what was to come, but still, it had all felt so distant, more like a rumor of someone else’s life.

But now the _ Titanic _ was in front of her, and it was all too real.

Someone exited the car behind her, and Valentina looked over to find her fiancé, Lucho, gazing at the ship with pride, as if it was he that had built it.

In the mood to be a bit petulant, Valentina remarked, “I don’t see what all the fuss is about. It doesn’t look any bigger than the _ Mauretania._”

Lucho scoffed. “Don’t be like that, Vale. This is _ Titanic_! It’s over a hundred feet longer than _ Mauretania_, and much more luxurious.”

Valentina said nothing, letting his adulations of the ship wash over her like so much background noise as she wandered a little ways away. Lucho shook his head, holding out his hand to help the last occupant of the car step out. “Your sister is far too hard to impress, Eva.”

Eva gave him a polite chuckle, her own eyes fixed on the _ Titanic _. “So this is the ship they say is unsinkable,” she said, her voice appraising.

“It is unsinkable,” Lucho stated grandly. “God himself could not sink this ship-”

Valentina was glad when a porter interrupted Lucho about their baggage, letting her take in her surrounding without his grandstanding. She watched as workers loaded luggage onto pallets, as lower class passengers had their heads checked for lice, as people already aboard waved jubilantly from the decks of the ship. All around her in the thronging crowd, voices were raised in excitement at finally boarding the _ Titanic _.

All she wanted to do was scream. Her father was barely cold in the ground, and here she was, being carted back home with a veritable stranger by her side. She didn’t understand how Eva could even think of leaving the place where León was buried. Still, to ensure her family was taken care of, this was likely the best option she had.

Besides, she was a well-bred lady, and knew she was expected to act like one. She pushed her discomfort down and focused on the moment.

“Chivis, my coat?” she asked the family maidservant, receiving a confirmation as Lucho herded the group towards the loading area. Chivis was an older woman who had worked for the Carvajals for as long as Valentina could remember. She was glad she was there, a familiar face to keep her company.

All too soon they were scaling the gangplank, porters just inside the doors to greet each passenger with a proud smile.

With Eva in front, Lucho to her side, and Lucho’s manservant, Montilla following close behind, Valentina couldn’t shake the feeling she was being led onto the ship in chains.

* * *

Juliana studied her opponents around their small table, searching their faces for any tell, no matter how fleeting. She kept her own face carefully neutral, despite the way her heart was pounding in her chest. Piled in the center of the table was all the money she owned, down to the last cent. It was a risk, a huge one, but she figured that since she had nothing, she had nothing to lose. Besides, the contents of the pot were well worth the gamble. It was all in, everyone having turned out their pockets. A Swiss army knife and a pocket watch joined the jumble of coins, and on top was the piece that had everyone’s palms sweating - a single steerage ticket for the _ RMS Titanic _.

Juliana discarded a card, hiding a tremble in her fingers as she drew another. Her fate depended on this card. With this draw she could be traveling on the greatest ship the world had ever seen, traveling towards home and her mother’s embrace… or she could lose everything.

As she added the card to her hand, she had to fight to keep a smile from her face. A ten. Paired with her other ten and her trio of threes, she had a full house.

She couldn’t celebrate yet though. She still had to see what the other players had.

“All right, moment of truth,” she said. Someone’s life was about to change, right there in that pub.

She watched as the other revealed their cards one by one. The woman to her left threw hers down with a scowl, showing nothing of worth. The man across the table had nothing as well, leaning back in his chair in defeat.

That only left one player. Juliana’s hear picked up speed once more, threatening to beat out of her chest. One last player, but the most daunting one. As the person who had bet the ticket, he had the most motivation of them all to win it back.

He fixed her with a smug look, and Juliana’s stomach swooped as he laid his cards out.

“Two pair,” she remarked, almost breathless. _ A two pair. _ She couldn’t believe it.

She had done it.

Shaking her head contritely, she let out a sigh. “You sure do make it hard,” she told the man. A look of triumph passed over his face, but before he could start celebrating, she continued, “Hard for me to wipe you clean. Full house!”

She slapped her threes over tens on the table, jumping to her feet in victory. The table burst into motion; the man across from her leaped to his feet to check her cards, while the man she had bested slapped his hands to his head, his face painted in stupefaction.

Juliana was unable to stop the laughter that poured from her. She snatched the ticket from the table, holding it high. “I’m going to America!”

“No, lass.” The barkeeper’s voice cut through the din of excitement. “_Titanic _ is going to America. In five minutes.” He pointed his thumb over her shoulder to the wall clock, which showed five minutes to noon.

With a curse, Juliana scrambled to scrape her winnings from the table into her canvas bag. Tossing the bag over her shoulder, she dashed out of the pub and towards the ship. As she sprinted full-tilt down the docks, weaving through the crowd and dodging carts and equipment, she couldn’t help but let out another laugh. She had done it, she had won, and soon she would be riding in high style.

She spotted a gangplank just being pulled away from the ship and put on an extra burst of speed, shouting for the porters to wait.

“I’m a passenger! A passenger!” she called as she rushed to the end of the gangplank, waving her ticket at the porter who was hanging out of the open door in the side of the ship.

He shot her a suspicious look. “Have you been through the inspection queue?”

“Of course,” she lied easily. “Anyways, I’m American.”

The porter hesitated for a moment, but then relented. “Right. Come aboard.”

Juliana jumped the space between the gangplank and the door, giving the porter a quick thanks and hurrying off further into the ship before he could question her further. As she darted through the crowded third class corridors, she couldn’t help but feel like the luckiest son of a bitch in the world.

Bypassing her bunk, she raced straight for the upper decks. She found an open spot at the railing and dropped her bag at her feet, leaning out over the top rung.

Breathing hard, she finally let herself take it all in. She was on the _ Titanic_, the largest and most luxurious ship the world had ever seen. And it was going to take her back home. It had been years since she had seen America - even longer since she had seen her mother. They had kept in touch during Juilana’s travels, but it had been sporadic, and the idea of seeing her ma’s face again made her chest ache. But through an extraordinary stroke of luck, she could now be on her way to do just that, Chino be damned.

She let herself get caught up in the jubilant atmosphere as everyone waved and shouted to those seeing the ship off down at the docks. A wide grin crossed her face, but she didn’t wave - she didn’t know anyone down below, although that wasn’t the point. As the crowd around her called their farewells, she made her own goodbyes to that part of her life. She said goodbye to the rolling British countryside and the twisting streets of Paris, to England, to France, to Spain.

And though she truly would miss her time in Europe, it was time to look out across the sea, to another new chapter in her life.


	2. Out to Sea

In the suite rented for them by Lucho, Valentina was unpacking her art. Around her, servants bustled to and fro, arranging her and Lucho’s belongings under the direction of Montilla. Montilla himself was under the direction of Lucho, of course, therefore everything was set according to his tastes, and not Valentina’s.

Determined not to be pushed aside in what were just as much her quarters as Lucho’s, Valentina had already pulled out a number of her favorite works as was planning where to put them. She had enlisted Chivis’ help, and they were now searching for a certain piece in particular.

Chivis held one up to show her. “This one?”

Valentina shook her head, and Chivis slid the painting back into its slot. “No, it had a lot of faces on it.” She spotted the one she was looking for and pulled it out triumphantly. “This is it!”

“God, not those finger paintings again,” Lucho but in as he approached from the other room, leaning in the doorway. “They were such a waste of money.”

Valentina kept her back to him, studying another painting Chivis had pulled out. “The difference between Lucho’s taste in art and mine,” she told her conversationally, “is that I have some.”

Chivis hid a laugh behind her hand.

“I love them.” Valentina said. “I like the way they make me feel. Like being in a dream or something.” She loved looking at the blocky and surrealist style of the paintings. They made sense to her, producing feelings she didn’t get from more traditional art. There was truth, but no logic.

“What was the name of the artist again?” Chivis asked.

“Something Picasso…” she replied, the artist’s first name slipping her mind at the moment.

Lucho scoffed. “‘Something Picasso,’” he mocked. “He won’t amount to a thing. Trust me.”

She ignored him sourly as he took a sip of his brandy then brandished it towards Montilla. “At least they were cheap.”

* * *

As the _Titanic_ sailed towards France and then Ireland to take on her remaining passengers, Juliana briefly stowed away her meager belongings and settled into her bunk, to the surprise and confusion of her roommates. The rest of her time she spent wandering the decks, trying to get the lay of the ship. It truly was enormous, with endless corridors snaking through the interior and miles of deck to stroll on.

Walking the decks gave her an opportunity to engage in one of her favorite hobbies: people watching. With all the different kinds of people on board, she was provided with a wide variety of interesting subjects. She couldn’t help but pull out her drawing pad and sketch some life drawings.

She also kept an eye on the upper decks, watching the first class passengers promenade in their flowing gowns and long coats. Those clothes were the main focus of Juliana’s attentions; she always liked to keep up with the latest fashions, copying down the lines and shapes for inspiration in her own designs.

They weren’t something that really brought in money, her designs, but she loved the feeling of taking an idea for a garment and seeing it take shape on paper, until it was something someone could wear. She didn’t have much opportunity to turn the sketches into actual clothes, but she never stopped dreaming of the day when she could.

As the _Titanic_ turned its nose away from Ireland, out towards the Atlantic, Juliana could feel the great engines propelling it forward, the ship gaining speed. She immediately wound her way to the bow, wanting to really feel it moving, to see it cut through the water.

She found where the deck jutted forward the farthest and went right up to the foremost tip. Leaning out over the railing, she gave herself an unobstructed view of the sea and sky racing past her. The sun was high in the sky, sparkling off the waves thrown up by the front of the ship as it sliced through the water. The wind rushed against her face, blowing her ponytail back and ruffling the hem of her ratty jacket.

She noticed movement in the water below her and leaned out even farther to see. There, where the hull met the waves, a pod of dolphins dipped and raced. She laughed out loud, watching as the dolphins began to leap from the water, gracefully arcing as they kept pace with the ship.

Feeling almost giddy, Juliana hoisted herself up on the rungs of the railing, bracing her feet of either side of the point of the bow. She tilted her head back and spread her arms wide, letting the wind whip around her. As she opened her eyes, nothing lay before her but the wide horizon. She felt like she was flying, and her heart soared with her.

* * *

Valentina felt like she was drowning.

She had been excited for that day’s lunch, as Camilo Guerra, the Chief Engineer, and Johny Corona, the Director of the White Star Line, were going to be dining with them. They were also to be joined by another passenger named Lucía Borges; she was “new money,” as Eva sneered, whose husband had recently struck gold in the American West.

Valentina had hoped the men would going to talk about the building and functioning of the ship, as she was fascinated and wanted to learn more about it. But all they seemed to do was grandstand, talking in circles about how the _Titanic _ was “the biggest moving object made by the hand of man” and how “its supremacy would never be challenged.” Valentina had to fight down her frustration at the thought of this being the rest of her afternoon.

She pulled out a cigarette and lit it, more for something to do with her hands than anything. As she took her first inhale, Eva narrowed her eyes at her, leaning closer to whisper, “You know I don’t like that.”

Instead of replying, Valentina fixed her with a stare of her own, and blew a stream of smoke into her face.

Lucho noticed their exchange and plucked the cigarette from its holder between Valentina’s fingers, stubbing it out in the ashtray. “She knows.”

Valentina’s blood boiled, but she knew she couldn’t retaliate, not there at the table with Eva and everyone else watching. She noticed Lucía’s gaze on her from across the table, but didn’t meet her eyes.

When a waiter approached to take their orders, Valentina breathed a sigh of relief at the distraction. She looked to the waiter to place her order, but Lucho spoke over her before she could begin.

“We’ll both have the lamb, rare, with very little mint.” Seemingly as an afterthought, he looked to Valentina. “You like lamb, right, _amorcita_?”

She knew he didn’t really want to hear her opinion, so she just gave him her fakest smile.

Across the table, Lucía spoke up. “Are you going to cut her meat for her too, Lucho?” Her voice was joking, but her eyes flashed in a way Valentina admired. Not waiting for him to reply, she quickly steered the conversation in another direction, which Valentina also appreciated. “Now, who thought of the name _Titanic_? Was it you, Johny?”

Mr. Corona puffed up a bit, looking pleased with himself behind his glasses. “Well, yes, actually. I wanted to convey sheer size. And size means stability, luxury, and above all, strength.”

“Do you know of Dr. Freud, Mr. Corona?” Valentina asked before she could stop herself. “His ideas about the men’s obsession with size might be of particular interest to you.”

Lucía flashed a grin at her, while Eva hissed, “What’s gotten into you?”

Valentina wasn’t quite sure herself. She stood hurriedly from her chair, making it squeak against the new floors. Barely remembering to excuse herself, she hurried out into the cool air on deck.

* * *

Juliana was sketching near the stern of the ship, engrossed in the scene of a father explaining the propellers of the ship to his young daughter. He had her propped up on the railing, his arms wrapped securely around her as they spoke and gestured. Their movement provided an interesting challenge for Juliana, as she had to focus more on capturing their basic frame instead of their details.

She finished a bit of shading and looked up to watch two porters walking a handful of dogs past her. They were first class dogs, come down to steerage to take a shit. She scoffed lightly to herself, shaking her head. Always nice to know where you ranked in the scheme of things.

As she raised her head, her eyes caught on a bit of movement on the upper deck, and she stopped still. Walking towards the railing of the first class deck was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

Her dress was a lovely silk and lace affair, but for once Juliana couldn’t make herself focus on fashion. The woman was slim and willowy, her light brown hair coiled in a complicated style at the back of her head. Her cheekbones and jaw were sharp enough to cut, and as she looked out over the ocean, her eyes shone with sadness.

Juliana watched as she leaned on her forearms against the railing, her brows drawing together as the corners of her lips turned down.

Somehow, Juliana couldn’t stop staring. Without thinking, she flipped to a blank sheet of paper on her sketchpad, her fingers tracing the outline of the woman’s features. She could barely look away to focus on the sketch, but she knew she had to get her on paper, capture this moment before it flew away.

The woman turned her head, looking towards her, and for just a moment, their eyes met. She looked away again quickly, but Juliana felt something inside her jolt at her gaze. Her fingers flew even faster, sketching the shape of her eyes, the tilt of her mouth.

She wanted her to look at her again.

As if she could hear her desire, the woman’s eyes slid over to her once more, locking with Juliana’s. Even from a distance, Juliana could tell they were a lovely, brilliant blue. Their gaze continued for a long, breathless moment. There was something about the woman that called out to Juliana, that pulled towards her, that begged her to…

The moment was severed. A man strode up and grabbed the woman’s elbow, tearing her gaze away. He spoke harshly to her for a moment before she broke free and stormed away from him. Juliana watched as he followed after her, and they both disappeared back into the first class accommodations.

* * *

Valentina escaped towards the edge of the deck which looked out over the rear of the ship. She just needed some air, a breath to herself. She felt suffocated, constantly prodded this way and that by Lucho and her sister. Was there nowhere on this godforsaken ship she could go to be alone?

As she leaned on the railing surrounding the deck, she looked out over the ocean, letting its openness soothe her. Her father had loved the open water, had loved sailing. It was part of why he had taken them on the trip to Europe; a way to enjoy the vast ocean as they saw the world outside of their native Mexico. But the trip was also why she had had to bury León in a foreign country, far away from the rest of their family, and why she now had to leave him behind.

She turned away from the water, squashing down her thoughts of her father. Dwelling on her grief was certainly not helpful at the moment. To distract herself, she looked at the second and third class passengers on the decks below her. Though they were so close, they felt a world away, their lives so different from those in her well-polished world.

Her eyes caught on the figure of another woman - a woman who as definitely staring back at her. She was alone, sitting off to the side against the railing, a sheaf of papers in her lap, and she was gorgeous.

The woman’s dark hair was in a ponytail, swept back from her tan skin and deep brown eyes. She was wearing a dark men’s shirt and men’s trousers, which instead of being odd only served to highlight her beauty.

Valentina quickly looked away, back towards the ocean. Their eyes had only met for a moment, yet there had been something there, something that called for Valentina to look back.

She shouldn’t, she reasoned, it would be rude to stare - but she couldn’t help herself. Her eyes turned back to the other woman, and found her still staring. There was a strange intensity to the woman’s stare, and as their gazes met, Valentina felt as if she was looking straight into her, past every defense and down to her very essence.

Valentina felt herself growing warm, and even as she wished for the moment to go on forever, it cam roughly to an end.

A hand grabbed her by the elbow, and Lucho’s admonishing voice pierced through the fog in her mind. “What do you think you were doing, running off like that? Your sister and I had to apologize and make excuses.”

“Don’t touch me,” Valentina snapped, still too focused on the unknown woman to care about reigning in her behavior.

“Vale, stop this,” Lucho growled, not letting go. “Behave yourself and come back to lunch.”

Wrenching her arm out of his grip, Valentina stalked back towards their suite. “I’m going to my rooms,” she told him, leaving him to make whatever excuses he liked to their lunch party.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now introducing the Unsinkable Lucía Borges!


	3. Propellers

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trigger warning for this chapter:  
Mentions of suicide/suicide attempt

Dinner seemed to pass in a blur, moving around Valentina in slow motion. There was music from a string quartet, laughter and the clinking of fine china, but the seemed to be coming from a different room, on a different ship.

Valentina felt outside of herself. She could she herself standing at the end of a long parade of the same such dinners, all filled with the same dull people and simpering conversation. She knew this was what her life was to be once she married Lucho - just a string of parties and yachts and polo matches with no real life, and no escape.

As she stared into her future, she felt as if she was at the brink of a great cliff, teetering, about to fall. There were people all around her, her sister on one side and fiancé on the other. But no one seemed to see her wavering. If anything, they were the ones pushing her over the edge.

All at once she felt like she was suffocating. The weight of her future pressed down on her, squeezing the breath from her lungs. She had to get away. Gasping something about getting some air, she stood from her table and rushed to the door.

As soon as she was out on the deck, Valentina was running. Tears blinded her as she knocked past strolling couples, deaf to their outraged shouts. Her feet carried her towards the stern, as far away from the opulence of the dining room as she could get. Barreling through the gate down to the third class deck, she raced towards the very rear of the ship.

She ran until she couldn’t anymore, coming up against the railing at the back of the ship. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the bars, her breathing coming in gasps. It wasn’t far enough. This was as far as she could physically go on the ship, but she could still feel Lucho’s presence behind her, her future pressing in.

It wasn’t far enough.

She had to get away.

She looked over the rail to where the water churned below her, black and deep. An eerie calm came over her. She lifted one foot to the rung, then the other. Before she knew it she was on the other side of the railing, leaning out over the waves.

Her whole body shook, but her eyes were dry. All it would take was a moment, and then no one could control her. She would be free.

She leaned out farther, her fingers loosening their hold on the railing.

A voice called out, “Don’t do it.”

* * *

Juliana lay on her back on a bench, her eyes turned up to the clear night sky above her, lost in thought. Out here on the ocean, the stars were bright and vibrant, littering the sky. She couldn’t help but compare them to the sky of her childhood in Texas, where she would spend plenty of nights out under the stars instead of inside her tiny, run-down house with her parents.

She sighed. If she never saw El Chino again it would be too soon. But Lupita was too loyal to him; she would never leave him as long as he was alive. And if the sicario had died, Juliana had no doubt her ma would have sent her news right away. If she could just figure out a way to contact Lupita without Chino finding out…

Her thoughts were interrupted by the rapid clacking of high heels on the deck. Straightening up, she caught sight of a woman racing past her towards the back of the ship. As she ran by, Juliana also heard the sound of her soft but ragged cries.

She hesitated for a moment, wondering if she should just leave the woman alone. But something drew her to go after her. She couldn’t just ignore the woman when she was so obviously upset. So she followed where the woman had run and spotted her at the rear of the ship - on the other side of the railing.

Juliana’s heart almost stopped. The woman extended her arms, leaning out over the water, and Juliana knew she had to act fast. She approached the woman as close as she dared and blurted out the first thing she thought of.

“Don’t do it.”

The woman startled, whipping her head around to look at Juliana. “Stay back! Don’t come any closer!”

With a jolt, Juliana recognized her - it was the woman she had seen on the upper class deck who had so entranced her. “It’s you!”

The woman’s face was stained with tears, but still just as striking, perhaps even more so up close. The lines of her face were sharp yet almost delicate, and her long, light brown hair was down now, whipping around her face in the wind.

The woman’s brows furrowed in surprise, clearly not expecting to be recognized. “W- what?”

The woman was focused on Juliana now, that was good. She just had to keep her talking. “I saw you earlier, on the deck. You were having an argument with your…” She wasn’t sure what her relation to the man was, so she trailed off.

“On the…” Recognition bloomed on the woman’s face. “You’re the woman who was drawing.”

She had a gorgeous accent; Juliana thought likely Mexican, but now wasn’t the time to ask. As the woman’s words caught up to her, she blushed a bit at being caught out. “Yes, that was me.” Now that she had snared her attention, she took a step forward, stretching out her hand. “Give me your hand, I’ll pull you back over.”

“No! Stay where you are!” The woman’s voice abruptly grew panicked again, and she turned back towards the water, leaning out from the railing. “I mean it. I’ll let go!”

Juliana took a few quick steps closer while the woman had her head turned, her heart hammering in her chest. “No you won’t.”

The woman turned around, looking affronted. “What do you mean I won’t? You can’t tell me what I’ll do, you don’t know me!”

Doing her best to act casually so as not to rile her any more, Juliana shrugged. “If you had really wanted to, you would have done it already.”

The woman looked flustered for a moment, before turning back to the water. “You’re distracting me, go away!”

“I can’t,” Juliana told her. “I’m involved now. If you let go I’m going to have to jump in there after you.”

Never mind that Juliana couldn’t swim to save her _own_ life. She knew that if the woman did let go, she wouldn’t waste a second diving over the railing after her. Shrugging out of her jacket, she lay it on the deck next to her.

The woman glanced back at Juliana hesitantly. “Don’t be crazy. You’d die. The fall alone would kill you.”

It was certainly what the woman had hoped when she climbed over the rail. But Juliana had talked to enough old sea dogs during her travels that she knew that, even from that height, the fall wouldn’t necessarily be fatal.

She started to unlace her boots, pulling them off. “It would hurt, definitely. But honestly, I’m a lot more concerned about the water being so cold.”

Apprehension grew on the woman’s face as she studied the waves below her. “How cold?”

“Freezing, Maybe a couple degrees over.” Juliana thought desperately for something else to say, to keep her talking. “Have you ever been on a frozen lake?”

“What?” The woman looked at her like she was crazy.

Maybe she was, for trying so hard to keep a stranger from killing herself. But she was already standing there in just her shirtsleeves and socks, her boots in her hands; she was invested. There was no turning back.

“I did once, when I was staying with someone in Wisconsin.” She placed her boots down next to her coat. “I fell through some thin ice, and I’m telling you, water that cold… It’s like a thousand knives stabbing you all over your body. You can’t breathe or move, all you can focus on is the pain.”

She stepped up to the railing at looked down at the dark water below them. Luckily the woman was too focused on her words to protest her getting closer.

“Which is why I’m not looking forward to jumping in after you. I guess I’m hoping you’ll come back over the rail and get me off the hook.”

The woman stared down at the water for a long moment, before turning to look at Juliana, her eyes almost pleading. Juliana held out her hand, praying the woman would take it.

“Give me your hand. You don’t want to do this.”

Slowly, the woman placed her hand in Juliana’s. Juliana grasped it tightly and helped her to carefully turn around, letting out a breath in relief once they were facing each other.

Now that they were face to face, Juliana was struck once more by her beauty. Tear tracks stained her cheeks, making her makeup run, but it did noting to detract from her loveliness. Her eyes were the clearest, brightest blue she had ever seen, and Juliana couldn’t help a tiny smile as they met her own. “I’m Juliana Valdes.”

“Valentina Carvajal,” the woman returned shakily.

Juliana’s smile grew. “That’s a beautiful name.”

Valentina let out a surprised, bashful laugh.

“C’mon.” With a huff, Juliana began to help Valentina back over the railing, still holding tight to her hand.

As Valentina raised a foot to climb, she brought it down on the sheer outer fabric of her gown. Her foot slipped from the rung, and she toppled off with a scream.

Instinctively, Juliana clenched Valentina’s hand, her grip the only thing stopping her fall.

Lunging forward, she threw her other hand over the rail to grab Valentina’s wrist. She held on as tight as she could as Valentina dangled above the churning black water.

“I’ve got you!” she cried. She pulled on Valentina’s hand, trying to drag her back up onto the deck. “C’mon!”

Valentina clutched onto the rungs of the railing with her free hand, desperately pulling herself up each rung. Juliana grabbed her elbow, almost there, when Valentina slipped once more.

She screamed again as she dropped back towards the waves. Juliana clung to her arm, half over the railing herself as she tried to keep Valentina from plummeting to her death.

“Help! Please!” Valentina screamed, her eyes wide in terror as she swung at the end of Juliana’s grip.

Juliana braced herself against the railing, pulling with all her might. “Listen to me, I’ve got you!” she called, locking eyes with Valentina. “I won’t let go. Now, pull yourself up!”

With a tiny nod, Valentina grabbed the rungs once more, pulling herself up as Juliana tugged at her arm. Once she was high enough Juliana grasped her around her waist and hauled her over the railing, sending them toppling onto the deck.

They both simply stared at each for a moment, breathing heavily, before they heard the pounding of approaching footsteps.

“What’s all this?”

It was then that Juliana realized that she was laying fully on top of Valentina, and hurried to straighten up. There were three sailors standing there, and she watched as the one in front took in the scene - her odd clothes, her state of undress, and Valentina lying petrified below her. She realized exactly what assumption he would make as soon as he made it.

“You stand back! And don’t move an inch!” he shouted at her, and she rose carefully to her feet. To his companion, he ordered, “Fetch the master at arms.”

* * *

Valentina sat in a daze, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders as she tried to control her breathing. There was someone fussing over her, but she couldn’t spare the concentration to shoo them away.

She had almost died.

She had almost tried to kill herself.

She knew that, in that moment, she truly would have done it, had it not been for…

“This is completely unacceptable!” Lucho’s voice shouted, and she looked over to find him standing in front of Juliana. Why was the other woman in handcuffs?

“What made you think that you could put your hands on my fiancée?” Lucho demanded. When Juliana’s eyes slid away towards Valentina, he seized her by the lapels and shook. “Look at me, you filthy deviant!”

Juliana’s face turned to stone, a muscle jumping in her jaw.

“Lucho,” Valentina called, but her voice came out soft and reedy.

Lucho shook Juliana again, and this time Valentina leapt to her feet, hurrying to put herself between them. “Lucho, stop! It was an accident!”

Lucho finally noticed her, looking taken aback by her words. “An accident?”

“Yes!” she asserted. She tried to think fast for a plausible story. “I was leaning too far over and I slipped. I was trying to see the… the um…”

She wracked her brain for anything she could have possibly be looking at, twirling her finger in a circle as she tried to think. Lucho watched it for a moment before guessing, “Propellers?”

Valentina seized on it. “Propellers, yes. And I slipped! And I would have gone overboard, but Miss Valdes saved me.” She glanced at Juliana, who seemed almost impressed at her lying.

Lucho looked flabbergasted at the story, but seemed to buy it.

“Like I said, woman and machinery do not mix,” said a gentleman who had come with Lucho, and Valentina had to grit her teeth against the patronizing.

The master at arms looked at Juliana sharply. “Was that the way of it?”

Juliana glanced towards Valentina, who gave her a pleading look. “Yeah, that was basically it.”

Valentina let out a silent sigh of relief, grateful Juliana had gone along with her story. After a moment’s pause, Lucho nodded to the master at arms, who unlocked Juliana’s handcuffs.

Lucho took Valentina by the arms, rubbing them briskly as he tutted over her. “Look at you, you must be freezing. Let’s get you inside.”

He put a hand on her back to lead her inside, but Valentina resisted him.

“Won’t you give her some kind of reward?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. “She did save my life after all.”

Lucho hesitated a moment. “Of course, _amorcita._ Mr. Montilla?” The manservant looked towards him. “I think a twenty should do it.”

“Is that the going rate for saving the woman you love?” Valentina knew it was risky to push, but she couldn’t leave Juliana with so little. Not when she had been the only one there in her darkest hour. She deserved so much more.

“Ah, Valentina is displeased. What to do?” Lucho held up a finger. “I know.”

He walked back over to Juliana, putting on his most self-important look. “Perhaps you could join us for dinner tomorrow evening. To regale our group with your heroic tale?”

Valentina could hear the mocking edge just under his tone, but she prayed that Juliana would take him up on the invitation anyway. She wasn’t ready to stop seeing this intriguing woman just yet.

Juliana paused, the hard look back on her face. Then she gave a quick nod. “Sure, I’ll be there.”

As Lucho turned to guide her back to their suite, Valentina couldn’t help one last, lingering look at Juliana, still in her untied boots and rough jacket. _ Until tomorrow, _she thought.

* * *

Another chance to see Valentina. Even if her pride hadn’t been pricked enough to accept the contrived invitation out of spite, an opportunity to see Valentina again was too much to pass up. She would be there, even though she knew her presence would be used as a source of amusement. A poor girl at an upper class dinner; what could be more entertaining?

Before he could leave, Juliana caught the attention of the manservant and called him back.

She nodded towards the retreating figures. “They’ll actually let me in the upper class accommodations, then?”

The manservant looked her over blankly. “You’ve been invited.”

He nodded to her boots, the laces trailing, as she had barely been able to pull them back on before handcuffs were being slapped on her wrists.

“You’ll want to tie those. It’s interesting,” he said, a minute smirk curling the corner of his lips. “The young lady slipped so suddenly, and you still had time to remove your jacket and your shoes.”

Without another word, he turned and left, leaving Juliana to puzzle out just how she was going to navigate the following evening.


	4. A Walk on Deck

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello again, finally! Sorry for the wait! All I can say is, I've been waiting just as long as all of you for me to get myself in gear lol.  
But anyways, hope you enjoy! Happy reading!

The sound of Valentina’s music box always helped to soothe her when the world felt out of control. She sat at her vanity, idly fiddling with her hand mirror as the tinkling tune spun out. Her parents had given the box to her when she was little, and its airy melody reminded her of happy times during her childhood, when they had all been together. Her mother had died while she was still young, and now her father was gone too. Both her parents, taken from her…

A knock interrupted her thoughts. Valentina watched in the mirror of her vanity as Lucho opened the door behind her, a flat velvet box tucked under his arm.

“I know you’ve been melancholy lately,” he said, “although it’s been months now.”

He moved further into the room as Valentina clenched her jaw against the fresh sting of tears behind her eyes. Her father had _ died, _ why didn’t he understand it wasn’t something that she could just get over?

Lucho carelessly closed her music box, silencing its tune, and shoved it out of the way. He leaned against her vanity in its place and held the box he was carrying out to her. “I had meant to save this until the engagement gala next week. But, I thought it might make a good distraction.”

He unlatched the box and opened the lid. Sitting inside, on a bed of black velvet, was an ornate necklace; a chain of shimmering diamonds held an enormous deep blue gem, cut in the shape of a heart.

Valentina couldn’t help but gasp in awe.

“It’s a reminder of my feelings for you.”

She looked up at him. “Is it a -”

“A diamond, yes,” he said, picking up the necklace and placing it around her neck. Together, they studied her reflection in the mirror. “Fifty-six carats, to be exact. It was worn by Louis XVI, and they called it _ La Coeur de la Mer._”

“The Heart of the Ocean,” Valentina said in time with him. He looked insultingly surprised at her translation.

Valentina fingered the pendant for a moment. “It’s overwhelming.”

“It’s for royalty. And we are royalty, Vale.” Lucho knelt next to her, meeting her eyes through the mirror. “You know, there’s nothing I couldn’t give you. There’s nothing I’d deny you. If you don’t deny me.”

Valentina turned to look him in the face, her stomach roiling. He had said it softly, but there was an edge to his words that made her shrink away.

“Open your heart to me, Vale.”

How could she? Her heart was too full of grief and despondency to make room for anyone else.

But then again, there was someone. The feelings were new, so new that she almost didn’t want to look at them for fear they would shatter. But there had been someone who had cut through the bleakness, who made her chest feel warm when she thought of her.

Unable to answer Lucho and unwilling to examine her thoughts further, Valentina looked back into the mirror, at the necklace. She followed the chain of diamonds with her fingers, until her hand wrapped around her throat.

She wanted to see Juliana.

* * *

The next morning Valentina made her way onto the deck, stopping by the railing to think for a moment.

Where could she be?

Valentina needed to find Juliana - to thank her, of course. She had to speak to her before the night’s dinner. It was only courteous to give a personal and private thank you to the person that had saved your life.

But where could she look? The ship was massive; she could have been anywhere. She didn’t even know where Juliana’s accommodations might be to give a hint of where to start. She had only ever seen the woman twice, and both times had been on deck.

That was as good a place to start as any, she supposed. She started to walk, circling the top deck before moving on to the one below that, and the one below that. As she circled, she kept watch for a familiar silhouette, the sweep of a long, dark ponytail.

She finally found Juliana on the lowest deck, settled up near the prow of the ship. She was sitting against a piece of equipment on the deck, twirling a pencil between her fingers as she looked out towards the horizon.

Valentina couldn’t help but stop and stare for a moment, to watch as the wind tossed Juliana’s long dark hair over her shoulder. She was still wearing men’s clothes, but this time her shirt was a lovely shade of red. Her face was serious, her brow lined in thought.

Finally, Valentina forced herself to move, approaching the other woman. When Juliana heard her footsteps on the deck she looked up, then sprang to her feet when she saw who it was.

“I hope I’m not disturbing you,” Valentina spoke up first. Now that she had found Juliana, she found herself suddenly quite nervous. Maybe she should just turn around and leave…

“No, of course not,” Juliana assured her. “It’s Valentina, right?”

Valentina didn’t object to the lack of formality in her address, enjoying the feeling of familiarity it gave her. She nodded.

Juliana gave her a small smile. “I’m glad to see you. I didn’t think I’d see you again until tonight.”

The idea that Juliana was pleased to see her warmed Valentina. But there was a question in her words - why was she there?

She cleared her throat, fidgeting slightly. “Yes, um, I just thought that we could… talk a bit beforehand.”

“Sure, that would be nice.” Juliana stooped to collect a leather folder from the deck, tucking her pencil behind her ear. She gestured in front of them with the folder. “Would you like to walk?”

Despite having already walked over nearly every inch of the decks, Valentina found herself readily agreeing.

They walked in silence for a moment, as Valentina wracked her brain for something to say. She had come to give her thanks to Juliana, but now she didn’t want to lead with that. If she said her thanks, there would be no other reason to linger, and she would have to leave Juliana alone again. Which she certainly didn’t want, especially not so soon after finally locating her.

Finally, she simply fell back on her niceties and made some banal comment about the weather. From the smile Valentina caught out of the corner of her eye, Juliana found the comment to be a bit trite as well, but she responded in kind, and soon conversation began to flow smoothly.

And for the first time in a long time, Valentina found herself smiling.

* * *

Talking with Valentina was easier than Juliana expected. As they wandered aimlessly up and down the decks, she found herself telling her about her life. Skipping over many more unsavory details, of course, but it was more than she had told anyone in a long time.

They figured out both of their first languages was Spanish, and immediately switched over from speaking in English, letting their conversation flow even more smoothly. Juliana was right in thinking Valentina was Mexican, as she was born and raised in Mexico City. She shared that she was from Texas herself, but had moved away when she was young. She was evasive when Valentina inquired why, citing her love of travel rather than get into her messy childhood.

Even though Valentina was incredibly easy to talk to and engaged in their conversation, Juliana could tell she was guarded as well. There was still that sadness behind her eyes, but more immediately, there was obviously a subject she was avoiding.

After they had made several circles around the deck and even more in their conversation, she decided to broach it.

“Well, we’ve walked about a mile around this deck and chewed over the weather and where we grew up,” she said casually, “but I’m guessing that’s not why you came to talk to me, is it?”

Valentina hesitated slightly before continuing to walk. She looked away for a moment, taking a breath before beginning to speak. “Ms. Valdes -”

“Juliana, please,” she corrected. She hated the way that sounded coming from Valentina, too formal, too distant.

A barely-there blush came over Valentina’s cheeks. “Juliana. I came to… I want to thank you for what you did. Not just for… for pulling me back, but for your discretion.”

She looked over at Juliana, who simply nodded. What could you say to someone thanking you for saving their life?

“I don’t know how I would have explained it, especially to Lucho,” Valentina continued. “I know Lucho can be ... aggressive, so I’m grateful that you didn’t tell him anything even when he was threatening you.”

Juliana nodded once more. “Of course. I’m just glad I was there when I was.”

Valentina wrung her hands together and shook her head. “I know what you must be thinking. Poor little rich girl. What does she know about misery?”

“No. No, that’s not what I was thinking,” Juliana assured her, stopping by the nearby railing. She hadn’t been, not at all. She knew firsthand how cruel life could be, how many ways it could twist and turn on you. Even someone born into a rich family could suffer. “What I was thinking was, what could have happened to this girl to make her think she had no way out?”

Valentina looked so surprised Juliana’s heart hurt. She paused for a long moment, then joined Juliana at the railing, words spilling from her mouth.

“It was everything. It was my whole world and all the people in it. No one is real, they prefer you lie to their faces, instead of saying what you really think.” She threw up her hands as her words grew heated, but she abruptly grew somber again. “It felt like my life was plunging ahead, and I was powerless to stop it.”

She held up a hand towards Juliana, showing her the truly enormous diamond ring on her middle finger.

_ “Díos!” _ she couldn’t help but exclaim. “Look at that thing. You would’ve sunk right to the bottom.”

She had hoped to make Valentina laugh, but she just looked at her with tears welling in her eyes.

“Eva and Lucho have made all the arrangements. Five hundred invitations have gone out. All of Mexico City society will be there. And this whole time I’ve felt like I’m standing in the middle of a crowded room screaming and no one looks up.”

Valentina did not want this wedding to happen, that much was abundantly clear. But Juliana couldn’t stop herself from asking, “Do you love him?”

“Pardon me?” Valentina looked up at her in shock.

“Do you love him?”

She turned away from Juliana, walking a few steps away. “You shouldn’t be asking me this.”

“It’s a simple question.” At least, Juliana thought it was. But Valentina’s reaction to it was confirming her suspicion. “Do you love the guy or not?”

Valentina turned back to face her, and Juliana could see the answer all over her face, just as easily as she could see that she couldn’t say it out loud.

She couldn’t help but push just a little bit more, though. “You must have said yes for _ some _ reason. Is he going to take care of you?” she asked. “I mean financially?”

Valentina’s eyes filled with sorrow and guilt, making her think she might have got it in one. When she looked at her sympathetically, Valentina did her best to give her a shaky smile. “Money is overrated, anyway.”

Juliana hated to see her so unhappy, wanted to make her laugh. “You don’t care about money?” she asked. When Valentina shook her head, she put on her most serious face and let her voice go deeper than normal. “Well, then give me everything you have.”

Valentina looked at her, startled, a flash of fear crossing her face. Juliana broke and laughed, but immediately felt bad when Valentina’s eyes grew watery.

“Hey, it’s a joke! _ Tranquila,_” she assured her, drawing her into a quick hug as she put her hand over her eyes. “Oh no, don’t cry. It was a bad joke.”

Finally, Valentina did laugh along, but Juliana swore off on making jokes for the time being.

* * *

Needing a distraction to calm herself from Juliana’s startling attempt at a joke, Valentina playfully snatched the leather folder from her hands. “What is this thing you’re carrying around?”

She flipped the folder open, and slowed as she found a thick stack of drawing paper inside. She scanned through a few pages, finding them filled with detailed charcoal sketches.

“Are you an artist?” she asked Juliana, drifting to sit on one of the deck chairs nearby.

Juliana sat beside her, giving her a lopsided shrug as she looked at a sketch of a woman and her baby. “Of a sort. I like drawing from life, but what I really enjoy is designing clothes.”

She reaches over Valentina to flip a couple pages, revealing a sketch of an evening gown. Valentina takes in a breath as she sees it; the lines of the gown are elegant, and it’s covered in sketched details suggesting embroidery and gems. She’s blown away at the gorgeousness of the design, and the artistry with which it’s rendered.

“Juliana,” she breathed, “this is exquisite work.” She looked up at Juliana, who shrugged again and gave her a wry smile.

“They didn’t think much of them in ol’ Paree.”

“Paris?” Valentina asked, impressed. Juliana nods in confirmation. “I would think any designer that saw these would want to hire you right away.”

Juliana laughed with a blush. “You’re very kind, Valentina.”

Something about the soft way she said her name made Valentina flush, and she quickly turned back to the drawings. She flipped through several more designs and portraits, before one of them caught her off guard.

“Oh!” she couldn’t help but exclaim. On the page was a drawing of a woman reclining on a bed, fully nude save for a dressing gown over one shoulder.

Juliana ran a hand through her hair, her cheeks red. “Ah… Figure studies, you know. To learn anatomy.”

Valentina nodded with a hum, closing the folder slightly as another gentleman walked by them. What did she know of the way artists worked? Maybe all of them did in fact compile studies of naked women. Although as she paged through more similar drawings, she did notice they were all women, no men at all among them.

As the papers dwindled, Juliana began to fidget, reaching out slightly towards the folder. “That’s about all of them. Should we continue walking?”

Valentina held the folder away from her. “No, wait, I want to see all of them!”

Juliana’s blush grew once again. “Hold on, I just -”

Catching Juliana’s clear embarrassment, Valentina gasped in glee. “Is one of them _ naughty?_”

She flipped even faster through the sketches, until she came to the last one. It was slightly rougher than the others, unpolished, but it was impossible to mistake her own face. The drawing showed her standing at a balcony, looking out into the distance.

“Juliana…” she murmured, tracing her outline on the paper.

Juliana bit at the side of her thumb, her brows drawn. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have drawn you without your permission, but you just looked so lovely…”

Her words make Valentina flush. “No, I’m flattered, really. You made me look so beautiful.”

Juliana looks at her, seriousness in her eyes. “You are. I draw what I see,” she told her. “And I see you.”

* * *

After a while they begin to walk again, continuing to circle the upper class deck. Valentina askes Juliana more about her past, and she tells her of her travels after leaving home. They come to rest against a railing, watching the sun as it begins to dip towards the waves.

“... I worked on a squid boat in Monterey. Then I went down to Los Angeles, to the pier in Santa Monica, and started doing portraits there for 10 cents a piece.”

“Not nude ones, I assume?” Valentina asked cheekily.

Juliana let out a laugh. “No, of course not. You do like to tease, huh?”

Valentina giggled before looking back over the water. She let out a soft sigh. “Why can’t I be like you, Juliana? Just head out for the horizon whenever I feel like it.” She looked back at Juliana earnestly. “Say we’ll go to that pier sometime, even if we only ever talk about it.”

Juliana smiled at her, feeling her words tug on her heart. “No, we’ll do it!” At Valentina’s brilliant smile, she went on, “We’ll eat all the cotton candy and roasted peanuts we can handle. We’ll ride on the roller coaster until we throw up.”

Valentina laughs, pure and free, and in that moment Juliana knows she will do anything to make this happen.

“Then we’ll ride horses on the beach, right in the surf. But you’ll have to do it like a real cowboy, none of that sidesaddle stuff.” She pointed at Valentina teasingly.

At that Valentina looked a bit nervous. “You mean, one leg on each side?”

When Juliana confirmed, she looked at her a bit through her lashes, making her heart beat unevenly. “Will you show me?”

Juliana simply nodded. “If you like.”

Valentina smiled again, looking determined. “Teach me to ride like a man.”

“And curse like a man.” Juliana joked, putting on a fake Texan accent.

“And fight like a man,” Valentina continued, her own fake accent even worse, making Juliana laugh.

“They didn’t teach you that in finishing school?”

Valentina shook her head. “No, definitely not.”

“Well, come on, I’ll show you. Let’s do it!” She took Valentina’s hand, dragging her towards a spot with less people around.

“Like this. Hold up your hand.” Valentina did, and Juliana slammed her balled-up fist into her palm.

“Ow!” Valentina shook out her stinging palm, shooting Juliana a dirty look.

Juliana just chuckled, gesturing for her to make her own fist. “All right, your turn.”

Glancing around them, Valentina quickly hit Juliana’s upheld hand in a light tap.

“Oh, that was pitiful!” Juliana laughed. “Come on, you’ve got to put your weight behind it. Pull back your elbow, put your thumb outside your fingers.”

Valentina arranged her hand like she said, getting into a fighting stance. “Like this?”

“Right, now really give it all you’ve got.”

Juliana held up her hand, and Valentina swung with all her might.

“That was better!” she exclaimed. “You’ve just got to work on it. You’ve got to make sure your wrist is straight, like this...”

She gently took Valentina’s hand, arranging it into the correct position. Suddenly, Valentina ripped her hand away, looking with wide eyes at something behind Juliana. Whipping around, she came face to face with a small group of well-dressed upper class women. On instinct, she immediately hid her hands behind her back.

Valentina took a few steps away, addressing the woman in front of the group, who was pinning her with a severe look. “Eva.”

Juliana recognized the name from their conversation. This was Valentina’s sister? She looked much more haughty than she had imagined, especially going off the woman she had spent the day with.

“May I introduce Juliana Valdes?” Valentina said, her voice slightly shaky.

Eva proceeded to look her up and down with a cold eye. “Charmed, I’m sure.”

Looking to the three other women with Eva, Valentina explained, “Ms. Valdes was of some assistance to me last night, and Lucho and I have invited her to dinner this evening.”

The other women nodded and smiled graciously, but Eva’s expression didn’t change. Juliana felt distinctly uncomfortable under her gaze, but she did her best not to show it.

“Well,” said the shorter blonde woman affably, “it sounds like you’re a good girl to have around in a tight spot.”

Juliana smiled at her gratefully as a bugle fanfare rang out from further down the deck.

The blonde woman rolled her eyes. “I don’t understand why they always insist on announcing dinner like a damn cavalry charge.”

Valentina let out a nervous laugh and stepped towards her sister. “Shall we go dress?”

She took Eva’s arm and quickly began guiding her down the walkway, but not before turning back to glance at Juliana. “See you at dinner, Juliana.”

Juliana smiled at her and gave her a wave, unable to tear her eyes away from her retreating form. She was only pulled from her reverie by the sound of the blonde woman calling to her.

“_Chicita!_” Juliana turned to face her. “Do you have the slightest idea what you’re doing?”

Juliana could only laugh. “Not really,” she admitted.

“Well, you’re about to go into the snake pit,” the woman warned. “What are you planning on wearing?”

Spreading her arms, Juliana gestured to the clothes she was currently wearing.

The woman gave a slight sigh. “That’s what I thought. Come on.”

Without waiting for a response, she took Juliana’s arm and started guiding her into the ship.

“Sorry, but where are we going?” Juliana questioned. “I don’t even know you.”

The woman gave her a wry smile. “My name is Lucía Borges, and I’m going to make sure these people don’t chew you up and spit you out.”


End file.
